A sanitation worker from Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, warmed the hearts of netizens after photos of him heating up his hands using a taxi's exhaust on a freezing morning went viral, according to The Paper.

The temperature dropped to -8.2 degrees Celcius in the city on January 28, which was really felt by those who work outdoors.

A 62-year-old sanitation worker, Hu Xifa, squatted at the tail of a taxi parked by the roadside at the east square of Hankou Railway Station around 6am on January 29. He made use of the hot exhaust coming from the car to warm his hands which were numbed by the cold, Chutian Metropolis Daily reported.

The scene happened to be captured by a netizen surnamed Xiong and posted online. Xiong said it was really tough for sanitation workers to get up so early in such freezing weather.

The taxi's driver, Qu Fanghui, invited Hu to get in the car to warm up but he declined.

Hu left the taxi after warming his hands and expressed his appreciation of the driver’s kind offer. He added that he didn’t get in the car because his hands and clothes were dirty, the newspaper reported.